I Just Tried On Google Glass, And This Is What It Was Like

Over the weekend at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, I had the opportunity to briefly try on Google's next-generation gadget, Google Glass.

The experience was interesting, to say the least.

The frames do not feel heavy on your face, and I did not notice any difference in weight from my normal glasses. Because they're made of metal, Glass is durable too. It can be bent and twisted and quickly return to its normal state.

The current design is dorky, but hopefully before they ship, Google can work to make Glass sleeker and not so noticeable.

After you place Glass on your face and adjust them, a small screen appears in your peripheral vision in the top right corner. Because the screen is so tiny it's difficult to photograph exactly what Glass looks like.

The screen is initially distracting because you always want to look up at it, but once users are familiar with it being there I don't see that remaining a problem.

Here's an example of what I saw, this is a dramatization. The actual screen is tiny and it doesn't block your entire field of vision as this one does:

Because of my poor vision (I'm near-sighted), all I could make out was the time, but I see Google's vision for users being able to easily keep up with tweets, status updates, participate in Google Hangouts, get directions, and more.

Glass allows you to speak to it too. If your hands are tied up you simply say, "Ok glass," and begin speaking a command like "send a message" or "get me directions".

Speaking to Glass might take some getting used to. Another person who used them tried the voice diction and remarked that they had to speak to Glass twice. They were told this was because they didn't speak quickly enough between "Ok Glass" and the command.